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Sears, once the world's largest retailer, has now officially filed for bankruptcy, while announcing plans to close another 142 unprofitable Sears and Kmart stores, including several in the area.
The Sears closures include two in the Hudson Valley: at 75 West Route 59 in Nanuet and at 600 Lee Boulevard in Yorktown.
Two Sears stores in Connecticut are closing: at 1201 Boston Post Road in Milford (Lands' End) and 850 Hartford Turnpike in Waterford (Lands' End).
Among stores closing are five Kmarts in New York, including the Kmart at 987 Route 6 in Mahopac. No Kmart closures in Connecticut are scheduled.
The other New York Sears closures are:
- 1111 Franklin Avenue, Garden City (Lands' End)
- Route 394 & Hunt Boulevard, Lakewood
The other four New York Kmart closures are:
- 8363 Lewiston Road, Batavia
- 2590 Military Road, Niagara Falls
- 349 Orchard Park Road, West Seneca
- 93 West Campbell Road, Schenectady
The stores will close toward the end of the calendar year, Sears said. Liquidation sales at these stores are expected to begin shortly.
The 142 closures are in addition to the previously announced closures of 46 unprofitable stores that is expected to be completed by November.
The 125-year-old company, which has not turned a profit since 2010, had a $134 million debt payment due Monday that it previously reported it cannot cover.
It's possible more of the remaining 687 Sears and Kmart stores could close.
Eddie Lampert, a hedge-fund manager who took over as Sears chief executive officer in 2013, stepped down as CEO, it was also announced on Monday. He will remain chairman of the board.
“The journey to running a member-centric company on a consistently profitable basis has taken far longer than we expected,” Lampert wrote in a lengthy blog post. “Like many other brick and mortar retailers, Sears has encountered very substantial obstacles to profitability as a result of the enormous changes to the retail environment caused by the ever-increasing trend to online shopping.
"We anticipated these changes and reorganized in light of them, but have yet to achieve the results that we desire.”
Sears had previously said there was “substantial doubt” the company would be able to stay in business and sustain as online sales and chains such as Walmart continue to take over the market.
Sears stock, which once traded at more than $100 a share, is down to 40 cents a share.
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